After winning the California and Nevada (Zone 10) High Point Championship for the third year in a row, the MVCS Equestrian Team that rides at Monte Vista Christian School in Watsonville earned a spot at the National Finals held by the Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA) in Syracuse, New York on April 18-21.
“Our team won the Championships at many IEA California horse shows this year, all the way up to the show at Stanford University in March,” said coach Cassie Belmont. “We ended the season with almost double the points of the second place team.”
The IEA is a non-profit organization dedicated to introducing students in private and public middle and secondary schools to equestrian sports. Twenty teams from across the U.S. will compete at the National Finals.
“We have so much fun riding together and these shows are great team experience,” said Katarina Ivanovich, a sophomore honors student at Monte Vista who was selected as this year’s team captain by her teammates and coach.
There are 30 horses at the Monte Vista Equestrian Center, giving all of the team members the opportunity to ride the school’s different horses in preparation for the IEA events where they must ‘catch ride,’ or ride an unfamiliar horse that is randomly drawn on the day of the event. This format is also used in Intercollegiate riding, and prizes at Nationals will include college scholarships.
“I can’t wait to go to New York for Nationals! We’ve worked really hard and I hope we do well!” said Monte Vista freshman Molly Pedulla, who was co-captain of the middle school team last year.
“We are very fortunate to have so many wonderful horses at the school for our riders. They have to be versatile and able to work with all kinds of horses, and we have a wide variety of horses, so our riders are well prepared and we’ve had a great year,” Belmont said.
In addition to the Equestrian Team, students at Monte Vista can also take Horsemanship as a PE class. Over the summer, the MVCS Equestrian Center offers week-long daytime and overnight camps that include trail rides, archery, swimming, and horse care lessons, concluding with a Saturday Horse Show for parents and friends.
“Monte Vista is a college prep school and the equestrian experience that our riders are blessed with is no different,” said Kim Dawes, a parent of one of the students. “IEA is formatted much like a collegiate equestrian program and our riders interact with and are seen by collegiate coaches and trainers. The confidence and camaraderie the riders gain is a wonderful bonus!”
For more information about the Interscholastic Equestrian Association, visit www.rideiea.org. For more information about the Monte Vista Christian School equestrian program, visit www.mvcs.org/equestrian.
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Caption: The MVCS Equestrian team from Watsonville, California, earned a spot at the National Finals held by the Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA) in Syracuse, New York on April 18-21. Front Row: Molly Pedulla, Cassidy Bleich, Maggie Haun, Sean Woock, Skye Bolen, Katarina Ivanovich, Miquela Allen, Ella Halliday, Katie Beasley. Second Row: Sam Watts, Katie Mannina, Maddi Eadie, Hannah Willis, Hannah Weaver, Bella Newcomb, Coach Cassie Belmont, Dani Dawes, Gaby Gerlach, Sarina Oliver, Justine Davids, and Jessica Ellison